|
|
Midnight In The Garden Of Less Is More
By: Tonia Tersigni Ho, CAS
Issue: 2009sep
We all believe that less is more—or so we are told. Yet after embarking on my fourth year in the industry, I decided to make my career an exception. After all, the more the better is my motto—more clients means more sales and potential referrals. More networking opportunities mean more exposure to prospects and learning more about my client’s businesses. More personal accomplishments, such as winning a Pyramid Award, obtaining my CAS and receiving a PPEF grant, provide me with credibility to compete with experienced industry peers. As I landed in the hospitable town of Savannah, Georgia, for PPAI’s 2009 Women’s Leadership Conference this past summer, the more the better was my attitude.
What did I expect to learn? Well, a conference about leadership I presumed, with workshops and breakout sessions to leverage skills for my success, equip the leader within me, address strategy and business challenges and discover how to negotiate, persuade and influence (the official theme L.E.A.D.). Skills that not only lead to my current success but also took me to the next level. And did I mention that I also received 25 MAS points upon completion? After all, the more the better.
Yet during my second day, I started to wonder whether my focus on this motto during the past 12 months was overrated. Concentrating on my accomplishments, sales and business while juggling family and personal responsibilities? My gut and innate being have desired more in return for all this hard work, but I continued to search for that magical answer by asking the advice of my peers, colleagues, and friends. (Thanks to all of you for your support!)
And yet at the Women’s Leadership Conference I found more. More than I even anticipated, but a different kind of more. More camaraderie. More energy. More empowerment. A sisterly, endearing kind of more. More support for who we are and for our contributions as industry leaders and women. Professional women sharing ideas and stories, talking about our families and volunteerism, taking time for ourselves and refocusing on what it is that defines who we are. To have a few days to celebrate us, to celebrate our progress in where we are today, and the interdependence we strive for. Yes we are all becoming smarter in how we manage and interact with others—from a good, firm hand shake or how to avoid meditation in linen closets, to learning how to work (and live) with assertive, responsive and controlling individuals. We are reminded that the value we bring to our clients as industry leaders may also be empowered by courageous leadership, taking action on healthcare marketing, becoming more interdependent and getting rid of the monkeys on our backs to allow for more time for us—that is the time we need to become marvelous, as Teresa Moisant, MAS, so perfectly defined it.
So my fellow female colleagues, you have helped me during this journey, more than I could have expected. What started with a very fitting trolley ride with our tour guide, Bean, to dodging the daily thunderstorms and singing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” at the top of our lungs in the Savannah Theater, you are all amazing and truly inspirational! It was an honor to be part of this experience in celebrating ourselves. Thank you to the PPAI Women’s Leadership Committee, to all the terrific speakers, to all the awesome suppliers for your wonderful gifts and to the women in attendance for making this experience possible. As I head back to San Francisco, I walk away with an overflowing heart of new friends and ideas, blessed and fulfilled in more ways than I could have ever expected, and reminded that less can actually be more.
|
|
|
|